The New Man Society
The New Man Society ranks as one of the most prolifant and dangerous terrorist organizations on Earth. Since its founding the mastermind behind the organization, King Cobra, has proven himself to be the quintessential criminal mastermind and would-be conqueror: he drops heroes into death traps, he always has an escape route, and he always knows exactly the right thing to say to really piss people off. The NMS, formerly known as The Serpent Society, has been a thorn in the side of law enforcement around the world since the mid-1980s. The British Secret Intelligence Service, INTERPOL, the Federal Beaureau of Investigation, and the International Police Association have all ranked the NMS and King Cobra as top priority captures. Even though King Cobra is in his seventies he is still an extremely viable threat to the world, and the NMS is a full-fledged terrorist organization complete with vehicles, agents, meta-human mercenaries, and an elite strike force all with a serpent theme. History of the NMS The New Man Society traces its beginnings all the way back to London in 1981. That year saw the global recognition of one man in the infant field of genetics, Dr. Timothy Blank. Blank was lauded as the world's foremost geneticist for his New Man Project, a means of replacing lost limbs, regrowing damaged and diseased organs, and eradicating virulent diseases in the womb with the manipulation of the genetic code. Although countless scientists had bent their minds to the field and the subject only London born Timothy Blank was able to show verifiable and repeatable progress in the project. In short, the world was watching Dr. Blank as the elusive scientist stood poised to actually achieve one of the holy grails of medical science: not only finding a cure for cancer, but eliminating it and its kind permanently. Timothy Blank was born in London in 1960. Even as a youngster he displayed a profoundly troubled attitude. He was disruptive in class, picked fights, and generally thumbed his nose at anyone in any kind of position of authority. An astute teacher speculated to his parents that he believed young Timothy might be such a problem because his school lessons were simply too easy for him and he was frustrated intellectually. Blank's parents agreed to have him tested and were stunned when he scored a whopping 160 on his IQ and acheived an almost unheard of perfect score of 800 on his science aptitude tests. Pronounced a genius by MENSA, Timothy was enrolled in Oxford at the amazing age of 12. All through his college years Timothy continued to display troublesome behavior but wouldn't be until years later that it was discovered that he also scored perfectly on the triad of psychopathy: narcissism characterized by egotism and a complete lack of empathy, a cynical disregard for morality and the consisten use of manipulation to force others to satisfy his needs and desires, and remorselessness for any pain or discomfort he caused. He had no tolerance for anyone, deeming the entirety of humanity beneath him and spending time with his only true friends, snakes. Blank adored snakes of all kinds, they were always the centerpiece of his conversations to the point that the subject, and his personality in general, finally completely alienated him from the rest of his colleagues and society. Despite the fact that Timothy Blank was a textbook psychopath he graduated at the top of his class with a PH.D in genetics, biology, herptology, and biochemistry. Upon leaving school Timothy, though only 19, was offered a position with the British Medical Association and placed within the British branch of the Genome Project, which sought to map out the entire sequences of genetics to explain not just nationality traits but also to hopefully explain the phenomena of meta-human capabilities and genetic mutation. Black quickly grew bored of the work and began investigating his own theories and speculations, which he dubbed The New Man Project. For nearly twenty years Blank immersed himself in his Project, and began to show the scientific community his success with regrowing tissue based entirely on genetic manipulation. Just as Blank was poised to win the Nobel Prize, the Briitish hero Vigilant brought the geneticicst's real activities to light: Vigilant uncovered a series of labs where Blank had been performing tests on human subjects, resulting in numerous deaths. Those were the lucky ones; those that had survived Blank's experiments were horrors of genetic mutation. Overnight, Blank was not just a pariah, but a criminal. Charging him with unauthorized experiments on human subjects, torture, mayhem, kidnapping, and murder the authorities invaded the labs only to learn too late that Blank had booby trapped all of them. In regards to the carnage that resulted, Blank went on national TV from a hidden location and laughed. He promised that the world had only begun to glimpse his genius and that they would soon know the full realization of it. Timothy Blank declared war on Britain and on Vigilant. When Timothy Blank next surfaced her was no longer human, but a twisted splice of human and snake. Openly declaring himself King Cobra he began a series of terrorist attacks throughout the greater London area, murdering or kidnapping a menagerie of scientists and herptologists. Throughout the 1980s King Cobra and his new group, The Serpent Society, would clash with superheroes and law enforcement that would result in hundreds of casualties. The Serpent Society activities settled down throughout the Nineties and most of the early 2000s. In 2008 King Cobra re-emerged, this time backed by an entire organization, which he called The New Man Society. The goals of the Serpent Society and its psychopath commander had changed: no longer content just to watch the world burn King Cobra was determined to rule it by transforming every human being into a reptilian monstrosity like himself, and obedient to his will. The NMS elite-strike team: VIPER The VIPER team is the backbone of the New Man Society. Each of these members has been with King Cobra since the beginning, helping to build the Society into the terrorist machine it is today. Each one of them has been subject to Blank's reptilian splicing, with the added bonus that all but Black Mamba have also been genetically rewired to be absolutely loyal to their horrific commander, whether they want to be or not. King Cobra was very careful in choosing whom was to become part of VIPER. Each of these men and women--Black Mamba, Moccasin, Cottonmouth, Diamondback, Sidewinder, Anaconda, Pit Viper, and Death Adder--bring valuable knowledge and skill sets that have helped to transform The New Man Society into a terrorism monolith. King Cobra -- Dr. Timothy Blank sits on the scaled throne of the New Man Society. Having been a super-villain and would-be conqueror for 30 years he is a very experienced criminal. He can out-think most superheroes and his plans usually involve plots within plots with plenty of contingencies in case heroic foes happen to be formidable. His years as a criminal have taught him a great number of skills, including martial arts, martial weaponry, firearms, and demolitions. In the rare occurrence that King Cobra himself steps onto the battlefield he tends to rely on his own powers rather than weapons. King Cobra is exceptionally pliable. His bones are soft, making him capable of withstanding heavy strikes such as a tanker might use with little to no damage to his skeletal structure. He is able to dis-articulate any and all of his joints and compress himself, which allows him to squeeze into very tight spaces, such as small air vents. He has the same senses as most snakes. His sense of sight is extremely keen, he is able to discern even very small motions and movements clearly. Two tiny pits above his nostrils allow him a meta-human sense of smell, he is able to discern one foreign aroma in 10,000. He can see into both the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum. Like a true venomous reptile, King Cobra possesses an extra pair of long, hooked canine teeth that rest along the roof of his mouth when not in use. He uses these teeth to inject an extremely potent neurotoxin that can kill up to 20 healthy adult people. His bite is strong enough to penetrate an inch of steel. King Cobra is not affected by his own venom. King Cobra also possesses super-human strength and reflexes. King Cobra has perfected a genetic splicing technique called the Coil Gene, which infuses normal human beings with reptilian physiology and abilities. Utilizing the Gene requires intensive and prolonged surgery; it's not something he can do in a few minutes time. Most of his patients die as a result of the splice, and those that survive the process have their wills indelibly locked into utter obedience to the arch-villain. In rare circumstances the Gene simply doesn't 'take', resulting in no transformation to the subject and rendering them immune to further attempts. Blank has discovered that people whom have already undergone genetic mutation, whether as a product of nature or by accident, cannot be affected by the Coil Gene. Black Mamba -- Dr. Jefferson Durant was a man of science, more likely to be excited by the discovery of a new bacterium than he was to be awed by some guy in tights flying overhead. He never gave super-human powers a thought until the day came that he needed them, when his wife and two sons were killed during the course of a battle between two teams of super humans. In grief and rage he sat in the courthouse, listening to the jury pronounce the two heroes put on trial for manslaughter be declared innocent of wrong doing. That's when he turned to his former employer and friend, Timothy Blank, for help. Black Mamba is the only person of Viper whom hasn't had his will bent to King Cobra's because Blank quickly realized that Durant didn't need to be subjugated. Black Mamba's hatred for superheroes is so profound that he obeys King Cobra without question as long as he gets his shot at killing a hero. Because of his rage-fueled loyalty, King Cobra has named Black Mamba the leader of Viper and second in command of The New Man Society. Black Mamba is uniquely suited to his goal of killing heroes. The Coil Gene has imbued him with super-human strength and durability; he can lift 30 tons and his copper colored scaled skin can repel heavy arms fire. In addition to this, his skin consistently secrets a unique venom that automatically blocks superhuman powers in others as well as weakening them severely; any meta-human grappled by Black Mamba suddenly finds himself bereft of both superhuman powers and the strength to even stand up. The nullification venom Black Mamba uses only lasts so long as he is in direct physical contact with his enemy. Aside from his powers as Black Mamba, Jefferson Durant is a skilled chemist whom specializes in poisons and toxins. Anaconda '-- Anaconda has been identified as neurosurgeon Amelia Huffington. How she came to associated with the NMS is not known, but it's quite likely it was against her will; prior to her apperance as Anaconda Dr. Huffington had no criminal history. Anaconda is extremely pliable, able to stretch any part of her body out to a total length of twenty feet. Her elasticity makes her all but invulnerable to blunt force trauma thought edged weapons and energy attacks affect her normally. The Coil Gene has further embued her with super-human strength, enabling her to lift, squeeze with, and apply up to 40 tons of pressure. '''Cottonmouth '-- William Jennings was a computer programmer with a peculiar talent for hacking, which made him a career criminal with a penchant for getting caught. The Coil Gene has helped him greatly in getting arrested much less often, and he revels in his powers. The Coil Gene enable his to increase the molecular density of his hands, thereby allowing him to strike objects with terrific force. He has been observed to pulverize done and buckle steel plates, not to mention the lethal effects his punches have on normal human physiology. Cottonmouth loves to fight and has trained in a smattering of martial disciplines including wrestling, boxing, and mixed martial arts. '''Death Adder -- Death Adder hasn't been identified, and it is truly a monster. The creaure is armless and legless, having only vestigal shoulders and a human-like face to show that it was even once human at all. The appearance of Death Adder is enough to scare anyone, but the power given to it by the Coil Gene makes it truly a terrible foe. Death Adder is able to spit any type of venom, biological toxin, and even gastric acids out to a range of 100 feet. It has been observed to corrode through steel, permanently blind enemies with precise spits to the eyes, and even kill with spittle. Many heroes underestimate this creature and assume at first sight that it's just a brainless monster but in actually Adder is extremely intelligent, conversing with terminology that calls to mind a man well-trained in the mental health sciences. Diamondback '-- Dr. James Eddleworth was a pharmacologist who disappeared one rainy night in October of 1983, only to return later as the speedster Diamondback. Diamondback is capable of running to a top speed of 500 miles an hour. The Coil Gene not only amplified his raw running speed but all of his senses as well, for him the world seems to be constantly moving in slow motion; he is able to dodge all forms of attack except mental assaults with relative ease. By exerting himself to his maximum potential he is able to move faster than the eye can follow; for him time appears to stop entirely. Such effort always results in physiological harm to himself however, so he rarely applies it. He is a dangerous foe in combat, with punches and kicks that hit with the speed and power of a bullet. '''Moccasin '-- Stephanie Keener was an award-winning biochemist whom put her skills to use fabricating narcotics for various organized crime groups. She disappeared after one particular sale went bad and it was a long-held belief that she had been murdered by one of her employers. But when she later appeared as a member of the New Man Society under the codename Moccasin, the truth became known. Moccassin is able to convert her own elctrical bio-rythms into outward, short-ranged bursts that can stun and paralyze opponents. If she manages to hold on to a foe long enough she can disrupt their own electrical workings, resulting in permanent numbness, paralysis, or even causing the heart to stop. '''Pit Viper -- Ahmil Seyd was and is considered one of the foremost criminal and forensic scientists in Millennium City, whom disappeared only to be identified later as Pit Viper. The Coil Gene allows Pit Viper to completely rearrange his skeletal structure at will, which in turn allows him to produce bonr weapony such as spikes, plates, and knobs along any part of his body to use as weapons or defense. Furthermore, his skeleton has the same density as steel, making his bones very hard to break. 'Sidewinder '-- Nobody is quite sure who Sidewinder was before his exposure to the Coil Gene. It was first thought that he and his impressive teleportation powers was just the messenger for the New Man Society and the guy that performs search and rescue missions when any of his team mates are capttured, but recent events have shown he is much more. He is proficient in unarmed combat and marksmanship as well as a keen leadship and tactical ability which suggests extensive military training. The NMS & The Blackmar What few people failed to realize is that when the Serpent Society underwent its decade long lull in the 1990s it was not because King Cobra had taken a vacation. Rather, it was he brought the Serpent Society into the employment of Doctor Destroyer and Destroyer's Black Zodiac terrorist group in the hopes that Destroyer's advanced technology would help King Cobra perfect his Coil Gene. It did, and more than that. When Doctor Destroyer was taken during the Extant Event King Cobra was quick to grab control od the entire Black Zodiac organization. With a virtual standing army of agents, fleet vehicles, and incredibly advanced technology at his command, King Cobra reinvented both the Serpent Society and the Black Zodiac into The New Man Society. He has unfettered acess to troops and armaments that make him the premier super-villain in the United Kingdom and he is not slow to use the Society's resources in his goal of conquest. Naturally King Cobra understood that by agreeing to operate under Dire Invictus he would be surrendering his authority over the Society but to him the exchange was worth it, the scientific acumen, skills, and technology Dire Invictus would allow him access to was even greater than that of the former Black Zodiac. That's why King Cobra was absolutely stunned when Invictus informed him he would be maintaining control over what she termed "an organization based on archiac technology that I have no use for," as well as total and complete access to Invictus' medical resources. Backed by his own New Man Society army and The Genocide Agenda, King Cobra presents a very real and very viable threat to the sanctity of the Unitd Kingdom. He continues to push forward his goals of transforming every citizen of the United Kingdom into Homo Blankreptilious like himself and there is no dount that if he succeeds in this quest, the United States and Paradigm City would be next on his hit list.